[MD] Social Level- Catholic Social Teaching

[Ian Glendinning]

It's a standing joke on discussion forums how many exchanges it takes,
in any new thread about morality, before someone mentions the evils of
Stalin (or Hitler, or Mao, or Pol Pot) and religion / atheism in the
same sentence. A well trodden path - a meme :-) - DMB did indeed
anticipate the next move.

Your conclusion Steve is common sense, but the problem remains because
there are better or worse patterns, and better or worse uses of those
"tools", but of course we are using the patterns (of differing
quality) to make our decisions about how "best" to use them. The high
level of recursion - upward and downward causation and "arising" - is
a sign that it does reflect reality, but it means getting closer to
concensus on making decisions remains complex, to say the least.

I agree there are no "necessary" connections, that guarantee good in
any fundamental way, but there are plenty possible connections to
choose from "for the best". The question is which is the best way to
choose.

Jane Austen anyone ?
Ian

On 8/1/08, Stephen Hannon <stevehannon at gmail.com> wrote:
> [dmb]
> Let me anticipate your next move. Yes, of course it is a good thing to
> feed the hungry and house the homeless and I realize that many religious
> people are involved in doing those good things. I'd point out that an
> atheist can do those good things just as well. That sort of decency
> doesn't have any necessary connection to religion.
>
> [Steve]
> This is a valid point, but I would also say that the atrocities committed by
> religious leaders and religious government leaders can also be committed
> by atheists (for example, Stalin was atheist).  Which leads to this...
>
> [Platt]
> Raising the question: "What does 'good' have a 'necessary connection to'?"
>
> [Steve]
> 'Good' doesn't have a necessary connection to anything.  Religion, atheism,
> any Static Quality pattern, isn't automatically good.  It all depends on the
> people behind those patterns making decisions.  A Static Quality pattern
> can be used for either good or bad.  SQ patterns are like tools, and an
> individual's morality depends on how he uses his tools.  Religion is a very
> powerful tool that unfortunately has not always been used for good.  But
> that does not mean that religion is intrinsically bad.
>
> Peace,
> Steve
>
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